


Okay

by stevesherdaddynow



Series: Promises, Promises [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bullying, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 09:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19850740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevesherdaddynow/pseuds/stevesherdaddynow
Summary: Going back to school after Billy's conviction proves difficult for Reader, but she quickly realizes who she's got on her side, and decides that she's going to be okay after all.





	Okay

**Author's Note:**

> Vague references to previous fic, a gendered slur, and brief descriptions of bullying appear. Also a vague description of the beginnings of a panic attack.

It turns out that going back to school after Billy’s sentencing was more difficult than it had been going back immediately after the attack. Somehow, over the duration of the winter break, some of your peers had gotten it into their heads that you had exaggerated the details of what had happened. Multiple girls who had gone with Billy before were quick to say what a gentleman he had been with them, and how they couldn’t possibly believe the things you had accused him of had really happened. Tommy and Carol went as far as to say that _Steve_ was always the one to initiate violence with Billy, and that he must have been lying about not being with you when everything went down, because there was no way someone as weak as you could have inflicted the bruises littering Billy’s face and throat.

On the first day of the spring semester, it starts with whispering and dirty looks. Nobody will talk to you and Steve except Nancy, Jonathan, and some of the band kids. When it comes time to pick partners for a project in one of the classes neither Nancy, Jonathan, nor Steve share with you, you’re left sitting alone and waiting to see who remains without a partner. You wind up getting paired with Robin Buckley, who you recognize from homeroom, and find you’re grateful to have someone who will at least look you in the eye when she talks to you.

By the second week, the world “slut” has been graffiti’d on your locker enough times that even after scrubbing at it with bleach, a shadow of the word still remains. By week four, you’ve stopped using your locker altogether, since the harassment has apparently now been extended to stuffing things into your locker on Friday afternoon so that they’ve rotted by Monday morning. The whispers have turned into full-fledged accusations, and by Thursday, people have started subtle physical attacks. The first instance is so well done you honestly can’t be sure if Carol tripped you or if you were tripping over your own feet. You decide to brush it off as you being too hasty in trying to get to your next class where you’ll feel safe in the presence of Jonathan and Nancy.

Except it happens again. Three more times, actually. The only common thread is you tripping - it’s not as though Carol can be around you all day, so you can’t say for sure if she’s behind this development, but by the fourth time you catch yourself before hitting the ground, you _know_ you’re not just tripping over nothing. Just as you prepare yourself to call out the next person who does it, you find yourself not being tripped, but being blatantly shoved to the ground. It’s so unexpected that you fail to catch yourself in time, and you hit the linoleum _hard._

The hall erupts into malicious laughter, and you can’t stop your eyes filling with tears as you struggle to get back to your feet. Two sets of hands hook themselves under your arms to try and help you up, but you flinch away in fear, a small part of your mind flashing back to when you tripped in the woods running from Billy and were _sure_ he was going to catch up to you. The hands retreat immediately, and you finally start to process what you’re hearing under the laughter that surrounds you.

It’s Steve and Nancy who were helping you up, having turned down the hall right as you hit the ground, and Steve is whispering to you, “Hey, hey, it’s okay, baby, it’s okay. We’re not gonna hurt you, you’re okay, you’re safe now.”

Taking a shaky, tear-filled breath, you turn so you’re sitting with your back against the lockers, one hand pressed against your abdomen. “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay,” you chant repeatedly. Steve and Nancy slide down to sit next to you, and Jonathan and Robin come running over to check on you and to threaten everyone else away from where you’re all huddled. Eventually, the tears stop, and you reach over to grab Steve’s hand, resting your head on his shoulder. “I’m okay, Steve,” you say softly.

Steve squeezes your hand and drops a kiss on your forehead. “No, sweetheart, you’re not,” he says angrily. “This shouldn’t be happening. We’re going to talk to Hopper today. No more excuses.”

Exhausted from pretending you were fine for the last four weeks, you nod. “Okay. We’ll talk to Hopper.” You try to take a deep breath, and wince in pain, your hand going back to clutch at your side. “But…do you think he can meet us at the hospital? When I fell…I landed on my books, and I think I might have messed up my ribs again.”

“I swear, if I find out who did this, I’ll kill them myself,” Jonathan says angrily as he helps Nancy get off the floor. 

“Get in line,” Steve, Nancy, and Robin say in unison.

Unable to help it, you laugh, grimacing in pain as you do, and shake your head. “Who needs Hopper when I’ve got my own hit squad right here?” you joke, letting Robin hook her arm through the one Steve isn’t clinging to as you all head out to the parking lot.

* * *

As you get checked into the hospital, Nancy and Jonathan have driven over to the police station to ask Hopper to come with them to meet you; the three of them arrive right as you’re about to be wheeled away to an MRI to check on your ribs. Hopper looks as irritated as you’ve ever seen him, and with a tiny jolt of fear, you recognize a small amount of disappointment when he looks at you. Like a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar before dinner, you shrink into your seat a little bit, and whisper, “I should have told you sooner.”

Hopper must spot the guilt in your eyes, because he sighs and drops to a crouch in front of you, reaching for your hands. “Yes, you should have, kiddo, but I understand why you didn’t. After the doctor checks you out, I need you to tell me everything you can about what happened today. I’m gonna make sure this doesn’t happen again. I promise.”

You look up at him, tearing your gaze away from your hands, and he looks so fiercely determined that you’re flooded with a rush of gratitude that this is the man who has taken in Eleven after everything she’s gone through, and that somewhere in all of that, he’s found room in his heart to take care of you too. You pull at him until he rises enough to give you a hug, and you feel all of the tension leave you. Whatever happens next, you know that between your personal hit squad and Hopper, you’re going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, okay, apparently we're doing a series here. Not sure how far I'm going to take it, but I know there's at least one more part coming.


End file.
